GET ON THE WA­TER

Kayaks, cruise ships or what­ever floats your boat.

Af­ter months of look­ing at the ice-cold Charles River and Bos­ton Har­bor from afar, it’s fi­nally warm enough to get out on the wa­ter again.

You steer

For those look­ing for a new skill or hobby, learn­ing to sail or pad­dle may be the per­fect way to spend the spring.

Com­mu­nity Boat­ing

Lo­cated at the tip of Charles Street, Com­mu­nity Boat­ing of­fers one-day rentals, but if you’re ready to com­mit, you can grab a 30-day be­gin­ner’s mem­ber­ship ($99) or a full-year mem­ber­ship ($309). Want to test the wa­ters? Com­mu­nity Boat­ing is host­ing an open house May 22 with free ori­en­ta­tions and skip­pered rides.

If you love be­ing on the wa­ter but don’t like do­ing the work, a cruise may be the an­swer.

Spirit of Bos­ton Cruises

With fully stocked bars and a dance floor, the Spirit of Bos­ton un­der­went a $3 mil­lion ren­o­va­tion last year and is ready to take party peo­ple out on the Har­bor. Grab tick­ets to a Sun­set Din­ner Cruise ($72.90) for photo booths, live en­ter­tain­ment and board games.

Har­bor Is­land Cruises

Get out to the Har­bor Is­lands where you can swim, hike, ex­plore a fort and even, if you’re woodsy enough, camp out. Bos­ton Har­bor Cruises pro­vides fer­ries to Spec­ta­cle, Ge­orges, Ped­docks and Lovells Is­lands (adults, $17; chil­dren, $10).

Karma Crew Yacht Char­ters

Karma Crew Yacht Char­ters of­fers a craft beer and raw bar feast with the “Oys­ters and Brews Cruise” ($69) on Sun­days and Fri­days. Or em­bark on a “Te­quila and Tacos Tues­day” cruise ($55) or the “G’Day Mate Cof­fee Cruise” ($35) on Satur­day morn­ings.

Bos­ton Har­bor Cruises

Learn about the his­tory of the Bos­ton Har­bor while en­joy­ing a ro­man­tic sun­set on this cruise, which loops around the in­ner and outer har­bor. The 90-minute cruise will set off ev­ery night at 7 p.m., with tick­ets priced at $27.95 for adults.

You’ve got com­pany

Spring means the chance to wit­ness New Eng­land’s sig­na­ture wildlife in their nat­u­ral habi­tat.

Cape Ann Whale Watch

In his­toric Glouces­ter, the Cape Ann Whale Watch of­fers a “sight­ings guar­an­tee,” mean­ing that if you don’t see a whale on your trip, you can en­joy an­other trip free. Tick­ets for adults are $48, $33 for chil­dren.

Monomoy Is­land Ex­cur­sions

Monomoy Is­land Ex­cur­sions takes guests aboard the Rip Rider from Cape Cod to the Monomoy wildlife refuge, which thou­sands of seals, birds and other an­i­mals call home. Tours are 90 min­utes, and cost $36 for adults and $30 for chil­dren.

Yan­kee Fleet Fish­ing

Get away for about five hours on Yan­kee Fleet Fish­ing’s Deep Sea Fish­ing Trips, where both the be­gin­ner and ex­pert fisher will have their own up-close-and­per­sonal in­ter­ac­tion with the help of the crew. Adult tick­ets are $49, and in­clude rods, reels, bait and hooks.